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Police corruption and its victims

Police Corruption and its Victims

Police corruption consists of many types ranging from Brutality which is excessive force on an individual either emotional or physical by a police officer(s) to Bribery which is a police officer who is using his financial or political means to gain an advantage. These different types of corruption have a profound aeffect, not only on the officer(s) in question but also the victim. Brutality causes the victim not only physical but emotional trauma and distrust in our legal system, as far as for the police officer(s) involved both brutality and bribery could cause them to lose their job and also the credibility of the precinct they are connected with. There are laws tied into certain types of crimes such as bribery and brutality but there needs to be more specific laws in place to prevent police corruption related to bribery and brutality against suspected criminals???.

Police officers abide by the Law Enforcement Code of Conduct from the very first time they set foot in the academy. The Law Enforcement Code of Conduct has several different subjects that include a police officer's primary responsibility which is to serve and protect while ensuring the rights to all citizens are equal, integrity which states that a police officer will not engage in acts of corruption or bribery, nor will they condone these acts being done by other officers, and also use of force which is stated that a police officer will never use unnecessary force or violence unless discussion, negotiation and persuasion have been found ineffective. Police corruption dates back to as early as the 1750's and has become a growing epidemic not only in the United States but all over the world.,

The size of the corruption market is estimated to be close to $300 billion in Russia ("Economist," 2008).

Kaariainen, Lintonen, Laitinen and Pollock (2008) stated that one of the most significant norms in police culture is the 'Code of Silence', which means that a police officer is expected not to uncover any misconduct that is noticed in the organization. Between 1999 and 2000 The National Institute of Ethics conducted one of the largest research questionnaires ever done on the "Code of Silence" which is the first time law enforcement has been able to learn the truth. These statistics will help spread awareness of police corruption and help prevent it. The findings in this research were that

46 percent advised they had witnessed misconduct by another employee, but concealed what they knew.

73 percent of the individuals pressuring officers to keep quiet about the misconduct were leaders.

Eight percent of the officers who admitted to intentionally withholding the information about officer misconduct were upper administrators.

Excessive use of force was the most frequent situation over which the Code of Silence occurs

Awareness is the key to stop this epidemic and allow citizens as well as other police officers to feel safe with our law enforcement system. Brutality is one of the largest forms of police corruption that not only physically but psychologically terrorizes its victims like Juanita Young and her family who lives in New York. Juanita and her family have been attacked by the police in NYC New York Lynne Stewart stated because she is a "freedom fighter" which is someone who will stand up and fight the law when something is not correct. "They attack her because we live in a police state, and they know no one in authority will hold them [police officers] accountable," Stewart said. One impact that basically all corrupt activities have is that it reduces the confidence people have in the fairness, integrity and honesty of police officers especially when they are breaking down doors, trying to climb through windows, holding guns to your face, and lying about having warrants just to keep you quiet like they did to Juanita.

Some of the resources which are spent on lengthy and expensive investigations might be better utilized in training, education, increasing accountability or closer supervision, especially during an officer's first couple of years in service (Director Grobler 1997). By assisting police officers with the knowledge of how serious the consequences of corrupt actions are they may be able to serve as a preventive measure especially if they realize the impacts it has on its victims.

Another huge area of police corruption is bribery that it is perceived more and more as normal. In Russia, A lot of Russians do not believe bribery by police is not seen as a crime because they the public isare so accustomed to doing as the law tells them to do. Dmitry Golovin, who owns a business in Russia explains: "You go to the local administration to get permission for something and they send you to a private firm that will sort out the paperwork for you, which happens to be owned by their relatives."

There are certain steps a police agency can take to help reduce police corruption., The first thing that should be done is to screen any person who wants to be involved in the law enforcement department and give candidates with a higher education preference and encourage them to continue school and become more knowledgeable of the law.

When a police officer breaks the law most of the time their punishment is a scolding or suspension without pay because they hold a higher rank in society then a civilian does, there needs to be stricter punishments in place for police officers who commit any kind of corruption or break the law.Policecrime.com has some excellent ideas that should be brought to attention of congress so that we can reduce or even eliminate police corruption. Some of the ideas listed were:

Making a Federal law stating it is a crime if any police officer commits acts of brutality or murder.Having police records public in all states so that civilians could access misconduct records.A system with the names of police officers who break the law so that they cannot go from department to department and continue to break laws.Cash rewards for the exposure, arrest and conviction of corrupt cops.Mandatory random drug testing throughout their employment
These are just a few of the many ideas listed that would help with the issues of corruption. These ideas should not only be for police officers but also officers of higher rank and support systems.

Tabatha, w hile you've included some researched information here, the analysis of your information needs to be reviewed to remove any personal opinion. Additional research will need to be included that supports your argument, as some of your information was personal opinion and will need to be removed.

Further, please revise your formatting to fit APA paper layout. I highly recommend working with the Writing Center for help with grammar and overall mechanics, as there are corrections needed to sentence structure and punctuation that make some of your information difficult to follow. You can also review "Rules for Writers" for help with understanding punctuation rules and sentence structure. J

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